Taking heaven
by Sesshomaru's 1st mate
Summary: Ladybug never wanted to know the true identity of Chat but once she finds out, she will avoid Adrien at all costs and Nathaniel seems more than happy for her averted attention. Adrien is not willing to share anything that belongs to him. He would protect her and keep her safe even if that meant taking her away from everything she held dear.


It was a beautiful spring morning. Birds were singing, the sun was shining brightly and Marinette Dupin-Cheng was laying comfortably under her pink blanket. She was in a deep sleep, completely unaware to everything in the conscious world. Unfortunately, Ladybug and Chat Noir's patrol didn't end until after 1am and she was surely suffering the effects of those late nights. Patrols were usually successful since she and Chat Noir became Paris superhero duo, crimes had dropped substantially. Although the Akuma still posed the biggest problem, it was rare that it happened at night. To her surprise, there had been an attempt on a bank across town but of course both her and Chat stopped those men, it just took a bit longer than expected because the thievius jerks had guns.

"Marinette!" Tiki yelled as she flew up to her wielders face and pressed her little hands up against her cheek.

"Tiki...5 more minutes." She grumbled as she turned the opposite way in hopes of getting more time sleep. She wasn't ready for the day at all. Her body was exhausted and refused to leave the memory foam mattress that held her so well.

Tiki flew over to the the other side of side of the bed and landed on her cheek, trying to get her attention. "Marinette, you have to wake up. It's 8:45. School started almost 15 minutes ago. You're going to-"

Just then the bluenette shot straight up, knocking Tiki back in the process. Her eyes wide and face set in shock. "I'm late!"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you." The little red kwami sighed.

Heading straight for the stairs that lead from her loft bed, Marinette flew down them and quickly stripped from her pajamas,going to her closet and look for her the outfit she would wear today. She pulled out a powder blue pleated A-line skirt, a white three quarter sleeve blouse, pale yellow heels and matching blue coin purse. Going to her dresser, she pulled out white knee high socks and proceeded to dress herself, repeating her mantra of "I'm late! So late." the entire time. She thanked whatever god out there that made her drag her butt in the shower after patrols last night because she certainly did not have enough time to do that as it is. Giving herself a once over in the mirror and noting what a complete mess her hair had become in her sleep, she groaned and roughly finger combed her hair. It wasn't perfect but it would have to do. This was the first time she had deciding against her signature pigtails since she entered high school, she just did not have the time. It had been 2 full year since becoming Ladybug and her hair was a bit more lengthy, the blue-black waves stopping just shy of her waist.

"Hurry Tikki." Marinette opened up her little coin purse for the tiny kwami to fly into and grabbed her white backpack. She hurried over to the trap door in the middle of her floor and quickly descended the stairs to see her parents busy opening up the bakery. Her mother glanced at the blue blur that was her 17 year old daughter rushing into the bathroom to tend to her teeth.

"I'm beginning to think that you like being late for the first day of school, dear. It has happened for the last few years." Sabine shook her head and chuckled when she saw her daughter peeked her head out from the bathroom, blushing and murmuring apologies with the toothbrush still in her mouth. A few moments later she joined her mother and father in the kitchen. Tom offered her the box of macaroons she had specially prepared yesterday evening as well as a croissant for herself, seeing as she wasn't going to slow down to eat a proper meal. His daughter smiled and thanked him before giving both parents a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks papa. I love you both, see you later." With that she was out the door and sprinting to school.

 **~At school~**

Marinette reached the school by 9:02, not bad considering the time she woke up. _ **'But not good either.'**_ Walking into the building, the halls were completely empty which was to be expected. Walking down the hall to the first class of the day, she saw the door was close but peeked into the small window in the middle to see her class in session and boy did she dread walking into the room at this moment. Gathering her courage, the bluenette grasped the handle and cracked the door open, she had planned her great infiltration. _**'I'll tip toe into the room, while using the desks as a cover so that I won't get caught.'**_ That lasted all of 4 seconds before the door open and she was greeted with the familiar face of Ms. Bustier, who had a less than surprised look on her face. Marinette gave a nervous, too wide smile. She had been caught.

"Welcome to class Ms. Dupain-Cheng. I was wondering when you'd show up. No worries, class has not officially started. We are still giving introductions. Come now, why don't you stand in front of the class and introduce yourself to your new peers?" Ms. Bustier stated. There was no saying 'no' with the creepy smile on that woman's face. She knew Marinette hated having attention on her, even for a moment. This was her teacher's way of punishing her for being tardy.

"Yes, ma'am." The kwami wielder grimaced. Defeated, she walked to the front of the teacher's desk and looked around the room nervously. There was a few new faces but some old faces as well. She instantly perked up at the sight of her best friend Alya, not only her but Nino as well. They both smiled and waved at her. They seemed to be quite cozy sitting next to each other. She almost pouted and waved back, she wanted to sit with Alya. _**'I guess the empty row behind her would have to do. Can't be upset with her wanting to sit with her boyfriend. Besides I was the one who was late'**_ she sighed then noticed her least favorite two people looking her way. _**'Chloe and Sabrina…great. Another year with that witch and her sidekick. Urgh….not one year am I ever saved from being in the same class as her. So much for ladybugs being lucky.'**_ As annoying as that was, she did take note that Nathaniel and Rose was also there too.

Ms. Bustier cleared her throat, garnering the classes attention and snapping the little bluenette out of her thoughts. The teacher gave her a look that clearly translated to **Get talking now.** With another heavy sigh, she turned looked at her classmates and smiled awkwardly.

"H-hi everyone, m-my name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng….I like to bake, cook and sketch. I..uh want to become a great fashion designer in the future." She said very quickly before hearing a burst of crude laughter. Of course she knew to whom that obnoxious fake laugh belonged to and of course she knew to ready herself for the attack that followed.

" _You_ want to be a fashion designer? Why, that's just laughable considering the way you dress. Ha!" Chloe giggled with her little redheaded follower.

Both Marinette and Alya bristled at the comment. Alya stood up and was ready to defend her closest friend against that overdone barbie doll when a male voice interrupted her.

"Chloe, that was a cruel thing to say and completely untrue. The entire school knows how talented Marinette is, she has won the last few contest held here with her designs." The blonde model said as he made his way to the teacher and whispered his apologies for being tardy. He had overslept as well this morning and was a bit annoyed with himself for doing so. When he walked to class, no one had noticed him at all. It was nice to be able to walk into a room and not be fangirled all over, thanks to all the years he'd spent at this school, his fellow students rarely gushed over him. Then he saw her, a beautiful girl with long, dark hair and curves out of this world. He could only see her side profile but that was enough to gage her beauty. He felt his heart skip a beat just at the sight of her. He wanted to know who she was and as he was about to walk in, he heard the girl introduce herself.

' _ **Marinette..?'**_

It couldn't be. It just couldn't be possible. He heard her say her name so didn't even bother looking at her when he first walked in so imagine his shock when he saw her now. Marinette always wore her hair in these pigtail buns. Adrien had no idea her hair had gotten so long. She never wore it out before and looking at her now, he couldn't figure out why she hadn't. Her wavy hair framed her face so well and flowed down her back beautifully. He had seen her the last day of school and she was not this curvy. At least not to his knowledge… _**'Maybe I just never notice since her body was always covered up by the blazer she always wore.'**_ But he could see her clearly now and he really did like what he saw. A smile placed itself firmly on his face as he continued to watch her and listen to her try to thank him with a cute unintelligible cluster of stutters . He couldn't help but notice her at this moment, the bluenette was practically radiating beauty and innocence. Two things that he hadn't thought was attracting him until he realized how blantly he was checking her out. A slight blush surfaced on his cheeks at once when his eyes locked with said little beauty, sharing a brief moment until Chloe opened up her mouth and completely destroyed it.

"Adrikinsssss!"

Chloe shot up with a squeal and ran down to a confused Adrien, jumping into his arm and pecking on the cheek. Marinette stared wide eyed at the pair before frowning and rolling her eyes in annoyance. She was doing her best not to look as annoyed and slightly jealous as she felt. But that surely didn't happen because as soon as she glanced back at the two, she saw Chloe turn and stick her tongue out at her. Oh, how the little bluenette was steaming, just as she opened her mouth to say something she was abruptly cut off.

"That is quite enough Ms. bourgeois! Take your seat. Marinette, Adrien, have a seat in the empty second row. We've wasted more than enough time." The teacher finally intervened. Chloe pouted and reluctantly went back to her seat but not before glaring at the baker's girl once more.

Marinette payed no attention to her, she was too shocked. Looking at tall modelesque Adrien then to the empty desk/bench combo behind Alya and Nino then back to Adrien again, who gave her an oh so sweet smile. She could almost feel the blush forming on her cheeks. Hurrying to her seat, she scooted behind Alya who could barely contain her excitement as evidence on her glasses covered face when she turned to whisper up to Marinette a few words of encouragement.

"Omg! You lucky girl. Who said being late was a bad thing?"

"You did. All of the time. But I know! I feel lucky! I get to sit next to Adrien all year long!"

"So..double date soon?" Alya asked jokingly, wiggling her brows.

"What? N-no… I mean if he wants too - I certainly want to...urgh you!" Marinette face took on 3 shades of red very quickly and her bestie couldn't help but snicker a bit. She did love to tease her shy friend every now and then.

Marinette was so happy. She could feel the butterflies fluttering in her belly as she saw the crush of her life walking toward his seat. He was so perfect to her. Beautiful golden locks that were perfectly trimmed, just a bit longer than it usually was but not a strand was out of place. His baby blue and grey thin striped, long sleeved t-shirt showed off his toned body with its thin material clinging to him slightly. The model's long white jeans rested perfectly on his hip and his down to earth grey converse pulled his outfit together. Not much had changed about him and she was happy about that. He looked almost exactly like he had last year, save for the new muscle content he had gained and hair. That was only an enjoyable improvement to her eyes. Goodness, she felt so shy at the moment that she couldn't even look at him without blushing madly so she forced her eyes to the vibrating cellphone in her lap.

 **~Adrien~**

The blonde miraculous wielder filed in behind Nino and they quickly pounded fists and exchanged greetings. Alya looked his way and he nodded to her with a smile to which she returned.

Everyone had their full attention on the teacher now, but Adrian didn't pay much attention. The first day was never very important, though he did half listen just incase he was ever called on. The other half of his attention gravitated towards the bluenette to the right of him. He still could not believe her transformation this year. Not to say she was ugly by any means, but she was practically radiating with an aura that scream for his attention. He wondered what else had changed about her, not that he knew too much about her before. Slightly annoyed with himself for not being able to recall anything more about her besides the incoherent sentences/stutter, the shy bunny aura she projected, and sick design skills. He decided to look past that for the moment and just appreciate her no longer hidden beauty.

He wanted to get her attention, to say something to her but decided against it. He didn't want to bother her since she seemed rather busy at the moment. Marinette was completely focused on her lap right now and he couldn't see her lovely face due to the hair cascading down her left side which blocked his view. But he could see the cellphone and the message on the screen. Now, Adrien was many things but he was no sneak. His alter ego however was in fact, a major sneak. He was a cat after all and as tempting as it was to sneak a peek into her life, he decided not to. Instead he turned his head to face the front of the room. Settling for just stealing glances at her for the remainder of the class.

For a moment, the little bluenette looked his way and smiled nervously and the blonde could feel his heart skip a beat at the sight. Quickly, he turned away before she could see the blush that he knew would form on his face. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he felt the tell tale signs of the blush as his cheeks filled with warmth. _ **'What the...since when am I nervous around her?'**_ It's not like he hadn't seen beautiful girls before. He met gorgeous women daily at work and they never brought out such a reaction from him. The only person that ever got a raise out of him was Ladybug but he was never nervous around her. He loved that masked girl. She was incredibly beautiful, strong, smart and feisty, caring and Chat loved everything about her. Every moment with her was a rush. Ladybug was his match. She was everything he didn't know he wanted, packed into a tiny curvy body.. It was great. So why then was he attracted to this frail but cute little bunny? It was a weird kind of attraction- feeling that he couldn't quite put a name to. He didn't know what to think of it but he definitely wanted to make time to explore this new _feeling_.

Time went by far too quickly for Adrien's liking but without any more outbursts to which the teacher was grateful for. As soon as the bell rang, Alya and Nino were the first to head out. He had received a text message from Nino saying that he was going to leave immediately to walk Alya to her next class and that he would catch up with the blonde at lunch. He didn't really mind at all, he was a big boy and didn't need Nino to accompany him to class. Everyone else started packing up to head to the next class, everyone except Adrien who had plans to confront the little beauty beside him. He felt incredibly nervous when he got up and turned to her. The blonde realized that he did not know what he wanted say to her. _ **'Hi Marinette, I never noticed how beautiful you were? ...No, that sounds like an insult. I don't want her to dislike me, she's already afraid of me. She practically jumps out of her skin every time I talk to her. Baby steps. I have to be smart about this.'**_ With that thought settled, he opened his mouth to greet her.

 **~Adrien Ends~**

"Marinette." Two voices called, one louder than the other.

The girl in question turned away from her desk as she just finished grabbing her bag and box of sweets to look at her classmate. It was one of her friends, Nathaniel. He had changed quite a bit since the last time she had seen him. He had gotten taller, clearly this lad had a bit of a growth spurt, though he was still a bit thin. That's not all that changed though, his attire was completely different. The redhead sported white, long sleeved button up shirt that was opened just enough at the top to see his collar bones and black choker around his neck. He wore equally black jeans and very kick ass boots that weren't her taste but she found that they finished his look off. But the most interesting change she had noticed was his hair. It looked to have gotten a bit of length to it. The orange strands stopped right at his shoulders, the back top half of it pulled loosely into a tie. It showed a bit more of his face and revealed how handsome and mature his features had become.

"Nathaniel..?" The bluenette looked a bit shocked at just who she was staring at. He returned her shocked expression with a smile, of course.

"You sound unsure. Do I look that different?" His question was met with silence. She was just staring at him, mouth gaped open. It was a rather cute expression and he couldn't help but chuckle. That seemed to snap her out of her daze and she blushed with embarrassment and shot her mouth quickly. Marinette couldn't believe it, this guy is supposed to be sweet, shy little Nathaniel? That was hard to take in.

"You uh even sound different." Which was the truth, his voice seems to have taken on a few octaves. It was deeper and she had to admit to herself, it was rather pleasant to her ears.

"A good different, I hope?"

"Definitely!" She smiled sweetly, approving of his change and giving him two thumbs up. They both looked at each other and smiled before the artist zeroed in on the lovely decorated green and cream colored box in her tiny hands.

"Are those for the class again?" He pointed to the box in question, excitement clear on his face. "You make awesome macarons every year for us on the first day of school. Mind if I steal a few for myself? Doesn't look like there's enough for everyone anyways." He said half joking and half serious.

"I'm sorry, Nathaniel... but these are not for the class this year. I just didn't have enough time to them in my locker this morning." She blushed a bit and hid the box behind her back. His expression dampened a bit, he knew who they were for. It could only be for one person and that knowledge bugged him greatly, though he didn't let it show. As far as Nathaniel was concerned, the model didn't deserve any of her affection. Glancing over to the boy behind his love interest, green eye meeting green eyes and sharing a short glare before returning his focus back to the Marinette.

"Thats too bad. I guess it can't be helped." He shrugged and smiled down at her. "So I know it's the first day of school and all, but I was hoping we could take sometime to actually catch up and hang out." He said cooly.

"Um..sure." She was caught of guard, did he just ask her out? _ **'I may be reading too much into it.'**_ He had never said so much to her in one setting besides the time he was akumatized, of course. She knew he liked her but was sure the crush had long since faded away.

Nathaniel lifted an eyebrow in question to her hesitation but smile instead when he thought of how cute she had seemed. Pulling a pen and pad out of his back pocket, he quickly wrote his number down before tearing it from the little book, folding it in half and handing it to her.

"Text me, ok? We'll make plans. See ya later, Marinette." he said, shooting her a smile before running out to his next class.

 **~Adrien~**

Adrien watched the whole encounter from side, listening carefully and stealing glimpses. Once he was completely ignored by the girl that he so badly wanted to talk to, he had to make himself busy so that he wouldn't look like a total creep as watched some other guy successfully make his move on the little bunny. The model very slowly packed his belongings away, trying to hold in the shock and budding jealousy he was feeling when her found out that not only was his new found competition Nathaniel but that jerk just asked her out and she said yes. _**'What the heck? She didn't so much as stutter once around him. But I say one word to her and she can barely form a sentence. She looked into that smug ginger's face the entire time she spoke to him. Why does he get to have her beautiful blue eyes on him..? What made her so frightened of me?'**_ Admittedly, he was a bit angry. He wanted answers but he couldn't just walk up to her and demanded them. That would have been counterproductive and just stupid. How could she entertain the guy if she knows he like her. Unless she think's his 'crush' was fleeting and if that's the case, she has no sense of danger.

' _ **Naive little bunny.'**_

Adrien remembered the guy when he was the Evillustrator. He was obsessed with the girl but bunnies don't seem to take hints as well as cats. He knew better though, just by looking at those dull green eyes that they carried a predatory look. It looked like he was had staked claim to her in his head and that was quite serious and annoying. Completely irritated, Adrien threw his bag over his shoulder and turned to leave, vaguely noting that the classroom had emptied save for him and Marinette. He was being childish. _ **'Why am I getting all bent out of shape for a girl. Come on Agreste. Get it together. Maybe I just need get in a few more hours a sleep. I'm probably just cranky or something.'**_ His little pep talk of denial did little to calm his mind. Try as he might to clear his thoughts, it returned back to _her_. Adrien was a perfectly polite boy. He apologized when he was wrong and even when he wasn't, he greet everyone with a smile but that little bunny was just so skittish around him. Like he was a wolf that threatened to eat her if she came too close. _ **'Psh! Whatever…'**_ He frowned and decided not to think too much on the subject right now and he began walking to the exit.

"Uh...A-Adrien!"

The blonde miraculous wielder stopped dead in his tracks at the sound of her sweet voice. He turned slowly to stare at the little beauty, intent on hearing every word she would say. It look like he may have unnerved her a bit because she looked everywhere but at him. He didn't think she would continue at this rate so decided to help her out.

"Yes, Marinette?" he responded. The little buganette took a deep breath and exhaled before nodding once to herself. She looked quite determined now. She ran down the small set of stairs to meet him at the door, midnight blue hair fluttering behind her. Standing only two feet away, Marinette shot her hands out from behind her back and presented him with the green box of sweets. Adrien was shocked, he look at the beautifully decorated box then up to the shy bunny holding them. She wasn't looking at him but instead at the box in her hand and then she spoke.

"T-this is for me. I-I-I mean from me... to you! Its said that you really liked these last year so I uh..I made these for you." She rushed through the entire little speech so quickly that he just barely understood her. He continue to stare at her in shock. He couldn't believe he was getting a present, especially not from her. It was sweet. What made the whole ordeal sweeter was knowing that he was the only one who got a gift and that freak red head left empty handed. He must have been silent for too long with his musing because her hands trembled a bit before lowered to her sides as she started to fumble for words again.

"I-it's ok if you don't want it. That was silly of me to just assume that you would want it just because of last year. Everyone tastes changes and Nathaniel did say he wanted some so I could just give it to him so they don't go to waste...I'll...um go now, sorry for bothering yo-" She was quickly cut off.

"No! Wait!" He grabbed her hand with the cookies in them and stilled her from leaving. Marinette was surprised and it was written clearly on her face.

"I want them. I'm sorry, I just never get presents from anyone so I was shocked, that's all. I'm really happy that you made these just for me." He truly did want this gift and he sure as hell didn't want her to give his present away to another guy. He opened the box, still holding her, using her hand underneath to steady it. There were small pale green cookies, finely crushed pistachio nuts sprinkled across the top of it and monogrammed with his initial on it. The **AA** looked handwritten in thin, sophisticated calligraphy that spiraled just at the ends. That was the face on everyone. The cookies looked designer and he would know, he's a model after all and have been a quite a few events. The food was always as beautiful as can be. "They look incredible. Are you sure its ok to take them?" He asked, not entire sure it was ok to accept all the work she had put into these cookies.

The bluenette smiled at how childlike he looked right now. He was adorable with his eyes wide, staring into the box like a kid who was not silently begging for a piece. He had baby doll eyes right now and the adoration was quite clear in them. Not trusting her voice to speak, she just closed her eyes, nodded up and down quickly then let him close and take the box from her. Without a thought, Adrien grabbed her, making her eyes fly open as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Thank you Marinette."

Poor Marinette's heart was thundering in her chest. He could feel the vibration strongly as if it were coming from his own body. She trembled a bit but despite that, she didn't pull away which was great. _**'Brave little bunny.'**_ He chuckled to himself. He never hugged people since his mom's passing, not Chloe, and certainly not his father. But here he was, holding onto this frighten but brave girl. She was cute and a voice in the the back of his mind whispered _**'She is mine.'**_ Confused and kind of disturbed as to where that thought came from, Adrien chose to ignore it in favor of holding on to the girl in his arms a bit longer.


End file.
